We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person, perfectly.

Adv

Friday, August 26, 2011

Raya story

"Are we preparing lemang or ketupat for raya?' shouted the impatient middle aged woman to her husband who was reading the newspaper. He didn't answer and continued reading until the wife pinched his bony thigh.

"Adoi! What's the matter with you? Can't you see I'm busy?" The man put down the newspaper and looked into his wife's fiery eyes.

"I was asking what are we preparing for raya? It's the 26th day of fasting today. We should start buying ingredients, otherwise everything will be sold out at the hypermarket," with raised voice the woman couldn't emphasize more the importance of making the decision promptly.

The man suddenly realized hari raya was just a few days away and he hadn't paid zakat fitrah for him and the entire family. He got up from the comfortable armchair and hastily put his baggy jeans on. The boxer brief he was wearing inside stuck out a bit from the back. He rushed to the console table to retrieve his car keys, wallet and cell phone.

"Hey, are we going to the hypermarket now? Wait! I haven't changed yet,"the wife shouted in disbelief.

"No, I have something more important to do now. Get yourself ready, I'll be back in 20 minutes," the man told his wife while putting on his Camel outdoor sandals.

The woman hurried to her room and changed into something more decent than her batik caftan. Then she ran to the kitchen to get the list of things she prepared two nights ago. She was closing the back door when the phone rang.

"Hello," she greeted the caller softly. She's not in a bad mood anymore. Finally the husband was going to bring her to buy groceries.

"Oi, where's my money? Did you take everything from my wallet?" the husband was shouting from the other end.

"Sorry, I didn't take your money. In fact, I haven't taken a single cent from your wallet since I started my baking business." Anger seeped through her. She could hear the husband groaning in the phone.
"Arghhh.....!" The man was mad.

He arrived at the mosque just in time to catch the amil. He did the maths in his head, RM7 times 7. He needed to pay the man RM49 for his whole family. But when he retrieved his wallet from the back pocket, he realized that all his RM50 notes were gone. He just withdrew RM300 the day before.

"Hello! Are you still there?" asked the wife.

"Yes, I'm here at the mosque to pay zakat fitrah. And now I don't have RM49 to pay the amil. This is so embarrassing!" the man was scratching his head and leaned towards the mosque's wall.

"Why so much? There's only you, me and Haziq. So, you only need RM21." The wife was confused. She knew how much zakat each muslim had to pay that year. Why did the husband needed RM28 more?

"Oh. I ... err... Well... ermmm.... " The husband just realized his mistake. When he did the maths in his head, he knew he had to pay for 7 people. But when he was arguing with his wife, he totally forgot that he hadn't told her about his 3 stepchildren and his new wife. He also forgot that he had given his RM300 to the new wife, the night before. Suddenly he felt dizzy. He pressed the 'End' button on his smartphone and massaged his temple.

End of conversation. End of lies. When he returned home later, it could be the end of him too.